Shades of Poor

The first dark shade of poor is the mother who gives her children to her mother in the calm countryside so she can work for pennies in the merciless big city.

A darker shade of poor is when the broken mother wraps her starving baby in a towel and gently abandons him on a sidewalk. She hurries away without looking back. But she prays he will be found and fed. And loved.

And the darkest and most ominous shade of poor is when the baby’s life is used as a bargaining chip for money so other mouths can be fed. This mother prioritizes and triages her children based on overall need. She seems frantically insane but her eyes remain calm as she plans her next move.